Deciding whether to invest or be a hard money lender

[Adam Peacock]

So as I was reading the forums where hard money lenders were being researched, a thought struck me. I am a high earner and have maybe $150k extra cash per year to invest. If I were to use that cash to invest in buying homes, that carries one set of challenges and a correlating set of probable profit expectations. But if I were to start lending my money to others at say 12%, that seems it would be far easier and a higher return.

Can someone check my math and tell me if I've calculated this correctly?

Pasted from Excel

$ 50K	Per loan average
3	Est funds per year
12%	Rate
Year	Principal Balance + Profit
1	$ 168,000.00
2	$ 336,000.00 (reinvesting principal + interest from prior year)
3	$ 672,000.00
4	$ 1,008,000.00
5	$ 1,344,000.00
6	$ 1,680,000.00
7	$ 2,016,000.00
8	$ 2,352,000.00
9	$ 2,688,000.00
10	$ 3,024,000.00

If my math above is in fact correct, are there resources to learn more about operating as a hard money lender? Are there methods that would result in a higher return than that shown above?

//adam